Police: Man standing on South Portland dam doused himself with gas, may have had lighter

SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine — Police said a 32-year-old man who threatened to commit suicide July 26 while standing on a city dam was taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland for a mental health evaluation.

Lt. Frank Clark said the unidentified man doused himself with gasoline in the Redbank neighborhood. He was reported to be holding a lighter and possibly a knife by someone who called 911. When police arrived around 3:45 p.m., the man fled on foot across Westbrook Street to the dam at Clark’s Pond.

Clark said police called a crisis worker from the Cumberland County Crisis unit operated through Opportunity Alliance and closed the area to traffic, including the Exit 3 ramp from Interstate 295.

The crisis worker was able to convince the man to leave the dam. Clark said he was not in possession of a lighter or knife when taken into custody.